Fingers crossed Napier Offshore Powerboat racing can go ahead despite stormy weather

The champion catamaran Rainbow Haulage is set to carry racers Colin Dunn and Darren Butterworth if the national offshore powerboat racing round in Napier goes ahead this weekend. Photo / Shot360

Napier Offshore Powerboat race organisers are hoping there won’t be a repeat of last year’s racing abandonment, despite the stormy weather hitting much of the North Island.

With many of the fleet of at least 10 boats and crews travelling from Auckland and nearby northern areas, New Zealand Offshore Power Boat Association vice-president and race driver Owen Mackay said that if a cancellation were necessary, it would have to be decided tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in Wairoa, a decision was made today to postpone the unrelated Ian Reeves Memorial Ski Race on the Wairoa River, with a tentative new date in February.

Both events had been scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, the offshore racing off Ahuriri and Westshore being the third round of a national drivers’ championship, with a unique three races over the two days.

Last year, the second day was scrapped with winds increasing to 30 knots and a swell up to two metres after a pounding had ended the racing weekend for several contenders in the first few hours.

McKay said it is never a single factor that leads to a cancellation – they can race in rain and in bigger swells.

With an eye to the forecast, he said the event looked like it would go ahead. A forecast of winds turning to northwest and a swell of 0.6m to 1m made it increasingly likely the event would get a start.

“Two days ago it was looking a certainty we would cancel,” McKay said.

The bigger problem is the smaller number of boats currently racing, in what is an expensive sport in tough economic times, he said.

If it goes ahead, the fleet is expected to be headed by joint series leader and defending champion boat Rainbow Haulage and crew Colin Dunn and Darren Butterworth.

The fleet would be expected to arrive in Napier mainly on Friday, and boats and trailers could be viewed on Te Karaka Reserve, near the Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club.

Half-hour races are scheduled for midday and 1pm starts on Saturday, and a long-course race for Sunday at midday.

Earlier rounds were held on Gulf Harbour in October and Lake Taupō in November. The Gisborne race on February 14 is threatened because of road damage in the region, and the last round is scheduled for Whitianga in March.

The Napier race is one of the longest-standing on the circuit, with a history dating back to the 1970s, and racing most years since a revival at the end of the 1980s.

Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter based in Napier, with more than 50 years in the news industry, covering most aspects of local, regional and national news.